Earlier this year, a group of community advisors in Queens attended a community design school to formulate proposals to reconnect Flushing Meadows Corona Park to the surrounding communities. We hear from Design Trust Fellows Sam Holleran and José Serrano-McClain and Community Advisors Esther Sánchez and Jason Chin-Fatt on how it all went down.

Casita Maria’s Elaine Delgado and Christine Licata describe the sites, markers, and programs of the South Bronx Culture Trail and pay homage to the area's exceptional cultural history.

The week before New Yorkers hit the polls in the city's participatory budgeting process, journalist John Surico tracks its evolution from non-profit project to institutionalization within the Council Speaker’s office, learns of its achievements and frustrations, and contemplates the future of this exercise in direct democracy.

Laura Hansen explains how the Neighborhood Plaza Partnership supports the local non-profits that operate the city’s newest plazas and asks how much we should, and can, rely on private support for maintaining our public realm.

Aaron Reiss dives into Beyond the Grid, an ambitious plan underway in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Lower Manhattan to create a more resilient, connected, and sustainable Lower East Side by fusing heating, power, and communications infrastructures.

UnionDocs' Christopher Allen and Aris Dilone and Los Sures' Ramon Peguero discuss a four-year documentary project capturing Williamsburg's Southside that demonstrates how creative documentation of place can complement the work of community-based organizations.

Jonathan Tarleton explores how the Weeksville Heritage Center is leveraging Crown Heights’ and Bed-Stuy’s storied pasts, local assets, and arts and culture to catalyze a community in the midst of shifting neighborhood dynamics.

Charles Chawalko relates the tension surrounding his coop’s upcoming vote on its future in the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program.

Marcus Moore and Sam Miller of Picture the Homeless, an organization led by homeless and formerly homeless people, discuss their activism on issues of affordable housing, police harassment, and shelter reform.

John Surico reports on the rise of Career and Technical Education in New York City schools, chronicling how it aligns with urban policy priorities to diversify the economy and create jobs.